On Friday 1st July, third year students from the 20 creative degrees at the Arts University College at Bournemouth will be celebrating their graduation alongside four renowned industry creatives Caryn Franklin, Platon, Bob & Roberta Smith and Chris Britton, who will be receiving Honorary Fellowships for their significant contribution to the fields of art, design, media and performance.
Caryn Franklin has worked in fashion for 29 years as a writer, presenter, producer and director. Formally a fashion editor and later co-editor of i-D magazine for 6 years, she is best known for presenting the BBC?s Clothes Show for 12 years and BBC?s Style Challenge for 3 years. Caryn will be receiving an Honorary Fellowship for her services to the design industry.
Platon is a New York based photographer who shoots portrait, and documentary images for a range of international publications including The New Yorker, Time Magazine, Rolling Stone, Vanity Fair and Esquire. His advertising credits include campaigns for Credit Suisse Bank, Exxon Mobil, Diesel, the Wall Street Journal, Motorola, and Nike. In 2007 Platon photographed Russian Premier Vladimir Putin for Time Magazine’s Person of the Year Cover. He will be receiving an Honorary Fellowship for his services to the media industry.
Bob & Roberta Smith is a contemporary British artist. His work involves performance; large installations made with personalised signs on scrap materials; and wall based paintings on wooden panels. In 2009 the Board of Trustees of Tate announced that the Prime Minister had appointed Bob and Roberta Smith and University College alumnus Wolfgang Tillmans as Tate Trustees. In the same year, a sculpture proposed by Bob and Roberta Smith was shortlisted for the fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square, London. Bob & Roberta Smith will be receiving an Honorary Fellowship for his services to the art industry.
Chris Britton founded Forkbeard Fantasy, a multi-media theatre company, with his two brothers Simon and Tim in the early 1970s. Forkbeard produce and present their highly individual brand of comic surrealism, creating performances, theatre shows, cartoons, automata, sculptures, installations and interactive exhibitions across the UK and abroad. Chris will be accepting the Honorary Fellowship on behalf of the whole Forkbeard Team for their services to the performance industry.
The Graduation Ceremony will take place at the beautiful historic venue of Wimborne Minster where over 600 students will collect their degrees in front of an invited audience of parents, guests and local dignitaries, including the Lord Lieutenant of Dorset, Mayors of Bournemouth, Christchurch, Poole and Wimborne, and the Chairman of the East Dorset District Council.